{"id":7631,"date":"2025-02-28T18:21:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T02:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7631"},"modified":"2025-02-28T18:21:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T02:21:33","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-493-christianity-stabilizes-in-america-the-truth-about-a-spying-monk-why-denominations-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/02\/28\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-493-christianity-stabilizes-in-america-the-truth-about-a-spying-monk-why-denominations-struggle","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 493: Christianity stabilizes in America, the truth about a spying monk, &amp; why denominations struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a>\n\n    On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions. If you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/26\/us\/christianity-us-religious-study-pew.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christianity\u2019s Decline in U.S. Appears to Have Halt\u00aded, Major Study Shows<\/a> (Ruth Gra\u00adham, New York Times): \u201cAfter years of decline, the Chris\u00adt\u00adian pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion in the Unit\u00aded States has been sta\u00adble for sev\u00ader\u00adal years, a shift fueled in part by young adults, accord\u00ading to a major new sur\u00advey from the Pew Research Cen\u00adter. And the num\u00adber of reli\u00adgious\u00adly unaf\u00adfil\u00adi\u00adat\u00aded Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, which had grown steadi\u00adly for years, has also lev\u00adeled off.\u2026 The sur\u00advey finds that 62 per\u00adcent of adults in the Unit\u00aded States describe them\u00adselves as Chris\u00adtians, includ\u00ading 40 per\u00adcent who iden\u00adti\u00adfy as Protes\u00adtant and 19 per\u00adcent who are Catholic.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/comment.org\/no-longer-i-who-live\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">No Longer I Who Live<\/a> (Antho\u00adny David, Com\u00adment): \u201cTwo years ago, I was ready to aban\u00addon a biog\u00adra\u00adphy I\u2019d spent years try\u00ading to write when a fel\u00adlow his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan threw me a life\u00adline. The book was about the triple agent Her\u00admann Keller (1905\u20131970), a Bene\u00addic\u00adtine mole embed\u00added by con\u00adspir\u00ada\u00adtors against Hitler into the upper ech\u00ade\u00adlons of the SS. Keller report\u00aded not only to the Ger\u00adman resis\u00adtance but also to the Vat\u00adi\u00adcan and the British MI6. In the his\u00adto\u00adry of espi\u00adonage, few spies pen\u00ade\u00adtrat\u00aded deep\u00ader into ene\u00admy ranks.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The arti\u00adcle is absolute\u00adly fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading, espe\u00adcial\u00adly for the detail that before her research Keller was wide\u00adly regard\u00aded as a vil\u00adlain and not a hero. \u201cBy ear\u00adly 2011, I had fin\u00adished the book on [anoth\u00ader guy], which was set to be pub\u00adlished in Aus\u00adtria. A few weeks before I was due to return the gal\u00adleys, I shared them with a monk at the Dor\u00admi\u00adtion who had asked to review the man\u00adu\u00adscript before pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion. When he saw what I wrote about Keller, he cau\u00adtioned me against tak\u00ading his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans at their word. I should talk to some\u00adone who knew him before pass\u00ading judg\u00adment.\u201d She did pri\u00adma\u00adry research and real\u00adized the exist\u00ading con\u00adsen\u00adsus was very wrong. Her dis\u00adcov\u00adery res\u00adonat\u00aded with me. The more I read the more skep\u00adti\u00adcal I become of extreme alle\u00adga\u00adtions against dead Chris\u00adtians. Vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly every time I dig into some\u00adthing in detail (the his\u00adto\u00adry of mis\u00adsions, the Cru\u00adsades, the Inqui\u00adsi\u00adtion, the church in Pro\u00adhi\u00adbi\u00adtion, etc) I dis\u00adcov\u00ader that the default under\u00adstand\u00ading of edu\u00adcat\u00aded peo\u00adple is wrong and pre\u00addictably so. This isn\u2019t to say all of church his\u00adto\u00adry is exem\u00adplary \u2014 some events deserve con\u00addem\u00adna\u00adtion. But even the bad events usu\u00adal\u00adly weren\u2019t as bad as com\u00admon\u00adly imag\u00adined. I find that most Stan\u00adford stu\u00addents\u2019 assump\u00adtions about the his\u00adto\u00adry of the church and of Chris\u00adtians is WAY more neg\u00ada\u00adtive than jus\u00adti\u00adfied by the his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal record.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/inparticular.substack.com\/p\/what-if-its-just-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">what if its just life<\/a> (Kris\u00adten Sanders, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cDis\u00adcern\u00adment is some\u00adthing many Chris\u00adtians uncon\u00adscious\u00adly despise. Many would rather have the rules giv\u00aden to them, with\u00adout devi\u00ada\u00adtion, than choose for them\u00adselves. No one wants to be left hold\u00ading the bag of their own life.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-journal.org\/article\/universities-fellow-to-faculty-programs-activists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adties Get Away With Hir\u00ading Rad\u00adi\u00adcals<\/a> (John D. Sail\u00ader, City Jour\u00adnal): \u201cUsu\u00adal\u00adly, a post\u00addoc\u00adtor\u00adal fel\u00adlow\u00adship is just a small step in a scholar\u2019s career. After a fel\u00adlow\u00adship ends, for\u00admer post\u00addocs apply to com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive posi\u00adtions on the open mar\u00adket. The diver\u00adsi\u00adty-focused fel\u00adlow-to-fac\u00adul\u00adty mod\u00adel mod\u00adi\u00adfies this path\u00adway. First, the pro\u00adgrams\u2019 admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtors select fel\u00adlows with spe\u00adcial atten\u00adtion to how they con\u00adtribute to diver\u00adsi\u00adty. Fel\u00adlows are then heav\u00adi\u00adly favored for\u2014often guaranteed\u2014tenure-track posi\u00adtions, bypass\u00ading a com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive search. It\u2019s a side-door into the fac\u00adul\u00adty lounge.\u2026 Over the last five years, one in 20 tenure-track hires in the UC Sys\u00adtem were for\u00admer president\u2019s or chancellor\u2019s post\u00addoc\u00adtor\u00adal fel\u00adlows.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphsaboutreligion.com\/p\/is-distrust-driving-the-rise-in-non\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Is Dis\u00adtrust Dri\u00adving the Rise in Non-Denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adism?<\/a> (Ryan Burge, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cNon-denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adism is pred\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded on the col\u00adlapse of insti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal trust. Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, for myr\u00adi\u00adad rea\u00adsons, do not trust major insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. Banks, unions, big busi\u00adness, media and gov\u00adern\u00adment are all viewed with deep skep\u00adti\u00adcism. Name\u00adless and face\u00adless CEOs and bureau\u00adcrats are wast\u00ading your mon\u00adey and tak\u00ading your free\u00addom. In reli\u00adgion, there\u2019s a sim\u00adple solu\u00adtion to this. Kill the denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions. Voila. No more unac\u00adcount\u00adable head office that wastes your mon\u00adey on projects to spruce up the nation\u00adal head\u00adquar\u00adters. In a non-denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal church, all the peo\u00adple who decide where the mon\u00adey goes are sit\u00adting right next to you in the pew. That\u2019s a whole lot more account\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.metropolitanreview.org\/p\/would-you-rather-have-married-young\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Would You Rather Have Mar\u00adried Young?<\/a> (Lil\u00adlian Fish\u00adman, Met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan Review): \u201cThis was the first time it crossed my mind that a young woman <em>like us<\/em> \u2014 a knowl\u00adedge work\u00ader, a writer, a left\u00adist \u2014 might regret her inde\u00adpen\u00addent youth and wish she had mar\u00adried a lov\u00ading per\u00adson at a young age. I\u2019d asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded this idea with a type of wom\u00adan\u00adhood we con\u00adsid\u00adered total\u00adly out\u00adside of our zone of inter\u00adest: anti-intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adism, a belief in the pri\u00adma\u00adcy of moth\u00ader\u00adhood. I was blind\u00adsided by the sug\u00adges\u00adtion that we might be bet\u00adter peo\u00adple if we were recused from for\u00adma\u00adtive inde\u00adpen\u00addence and strug\u00adgle. I looked around at my friends and acquain\u00adtances, espe\u00adcial\u00adly the mar\u00adried ones, and won\u00addered if there was any truth in the idea that the years they spent as poor cap\u00adtains of their own ships, unmoored and often lone\u00adly, were in fact not remote\u00adly nec\u00ades\u00adsary or enlight\u00aden\u00ading.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/2025\/02\/faith-science-primer-hypernatural-world-kenneth-keathley-miracles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Some Mir\u00ada\u00adcles Hap\u00adpen Super\u00adnat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly. Oth\u00aders Hap\u00adpen \u2018Hyper\u00adnat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly.\u2019<\/a> (John Van Sloten, Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty Today): \u201cKeath\u00adley defines hyper\u00adnat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adism as the \u2018extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary use of nat\u00adur\u00adal law by the God described in the Bible. When God acts hyper\u00adnat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly, He employs nat\u00adur\u00adal law and nat\u00adur\u00adal phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adna in an extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary way to bring about His will.\u2019\u2026 Per\u00adhaps this cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry helps peo\u00adple hold two oppo\u00adsites togeth\u00ader: that the world oper\u00adates in an empir\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly explain\u00adable way (a more basic def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of prov\u00adi\u00addence) and that God occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly inter\u00advenes to accom\u00adplish his will (through an exer\u00adcise of spe\u00adcial prov\u00adi\u00addence). Hyper\u00adnat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adism describes one facet of how prov\u00adi\u00addence and mir\u00ada\u00adcle over\u00adlap.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/25\/europe\/france-jackpot-stolen-credit-card-scli-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thieves bought a win\u00adning lot\u00adtery tick\u00adet with a stolen cred\u00adit card. Its own\u00ader has offered to split the jack\u00adpot <\/a>(Jack Guy and Lisa Klaassen, CNN): \u201c\u2018With\u00adout my client\u2019s cred\u00adit card it would not have been pos\u00adsi\u00adble to buy the tick\u00adet, but with\u00adout the thieves\u2019 behav\u00adior, the tick\u00adet wouldn\u2019t have been bought either,\u2019 said Debuis\u00adson.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/traversmark\/2025\/02\/20\/a-psychologist-explains-the-science-behind-getting-the-ick\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Psy\u00adchol\u00ado\u00adgist Explains The Sci\u00adence Behind Get\u00adting \u2018The Ick\u2019<\/a> (Mark Tra\u00advers, Forbes): \u201cOver\u00adall, the ick takes on many dif\u00adfer\u00adent forms. But, sim\u00adply, it reflects a per\u00adceived minor char\u00adac\u00adter flaw that becomes impos\u00adsi\u00adble to unsee once noticed. Researchers also found that women (75%) were far more like\u00adly to expe\u00adri\u00adence the ick than men (57%).\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/nineveh-promises-to-repent-as-soon-as-prophet-that-smells-like-whale-barf-leaves-town\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nin\u00adeveh Promis\u00ades To Repent As Soon As This Prophet Who Smells Like Whale Barf Leaves Town<\/a> (Baby\u00adlon Bee)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar pro\u00adduced shrewd war\u00adriors \u201cwho under\u00adstood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a sim\u00adi\u00adlar way, we need to become wise peo\u00adple whose faith inter\u00adacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may con\u00adtin\u00adue the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chi Alpha is not a par\u00adti\u00adsan orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. To para\u00adphrase anoth\u00ader min\u00adis\u00adter: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agen\u00adda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agen\u00adda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agen\u00adda. Hav\u00ading said that, I read wide\u00adly (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Tur\u00ading test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fair\u00adly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI dis\u00adagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI under\u00adstand\u201d) and may at times share arti\u00adcles that have a strong par\u00adti\u00adsan bias sim\u00adply because I find the arti\u00adcle stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with every\u00adthing an author says in an arti\u00adcle I men\u00adtion, much less things the author has said in oth\u00ader arti\u00adcles (although if I strong\u00adly dis\u00adagree with some\u00adthing in the arti\u00adcle I\u2019ll usu\u00adal\u00adly men\u00adtion it). And to the extent you can dis\u00adcern my opin\u00adions, please under\u00adstand that they are my own and not nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly those of Chi Alpha or any oth\u00ader orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion I may be per\u00adceived to rep\u00adre\u00adsent.\n\nAlso, remem\u00adber that I\u2019m not report\u00ading news \u2014 I\u2019m giv\u00ading you a selec\u00adtion of things I found inter\u00adest\u00ading. There\u2019s a lot hap\u00adpen\u00ading in the world that\u2019s not mak\u00ading an appear\u00adance here because I haven\u2019t found stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading arti\u00adcles writ\u00adten about it.\n\nIf this was for\u00adward\u00aded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions. If you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my way. Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading Less Seri\u00adous Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen Why Do You Send This Email? In \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/02\/28\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-493-christianity-stabilizes-in-america-the-truth-about-a-spying-monk-why-denominations-struggle\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading, Vol\u00adume 493: Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty sta\u00adbi\u00adlizes in Amer\u00adi\u00adca, the truth about a spy\u00ading monk, &amp; why denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions strug\u00adgle\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[131,124,120,160,112,247],"class_list":["post-7631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-academia","tag-apologetically-interesting","tag-famous-christians","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-marriage","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1Z5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7631"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7633,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631\/revisions\/7633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}